World's Coolest Table

by epicurious

on 02/27/07 at 06:19 AM

I'm in the market for a new dining room table (mine is 15 years old, scratched up, and now dipping in the middle). One of my colleagues found this beautiful expandable wooden table--the most innovatively constructed one I've ever seen. DB Fletcher's Capstan Table "metamorphoses from small to large, and vice versa. When small, the top is made up of six pie-shaped leaves, and an outer skirt in the manner of a drum table. Under this first layer lie two more layers of leaves, the first strata made up of six arrow-shaped leaves and, under that, a large star-shaped leaf. Below all of this lies the magical mechanism, strikingly beautiful in its mechanical complexity." Price tag? A whopping $50,000 is the minimum you will pay for all that innovation. Unfortunately, I need something with a whole lot less zeros...

Any time I need a piece of furniture we go to our local auction house. You can get a great piece of furniture at a great price, it will actually appreciate over time and it comes with a history. The one down side is that you can't always find what you want instantly, but the hunt is part of the fun!